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16 December 2011

DIY...Learn How To Love Your Vintage Jewels With La Chic Unique

Do you have oodles of broken costume jewellery? Want to learn how to bring it back to life? Jewellery designer Lizzie Longworth of La Chic Unique has the perfect DIY series for you.

Today she tells us how to repair your jewellery...

TOOL KIT:

Old toothbrush

Pliers

Extra strong super glue

Before you start your endeavour of fixing up grandmas old brooch/necklace/earrings/bracelet you are just dying to wear you will need some basic tools.

Everything can usually be found around the house or will cost a few pounds and will last almost forever, or at least to fix as much vintage as you see fit.

An old, soft bristled toothbrush should be at the top of your list. You will be surprised how many times you will need and use this. Baby ones are best I've found but any will do.

You can use silver dip or jewellery cleaner but this is more for sterling and gold cleaning, warm, soapy water works a treat on plated and coloured metal jewellery. Brush gently, don't scrub! all over the piece, that's in and behind all stones etc within a few minutes you will find that it looks completely different and like new. It will also highlight any flaws etc that the piece may have so you know where to start next.

Now your piece is gleaming you can start on the tricky work. Theres usually a few common problems with vintage jewellery;

✧ Missing stones

✧ Broken brooch clasps

✧ Bent arms being right up there at the top.

If you are lucky enough to have a piece where you have the stones but have come out of the setting your day just got a whole lot easier. Get your self an extra strong multi purpose super glue with a precision tip. These have been a God send to me and I always make sure I have plenty in my collection.

Now you won't need much and you definitely don't want the glue to seep around the stone, so what I do is squeeze a little onto some card or other hard surface and dip a pin into the glue so you have a little blob on the end.

Next, I tend to put it into the setting but you could put the glue onto the stone if you find that easier.

Now there is glue, lick your finger and pick up the stone with the wet tip and carefully lower it into the setting. Pressing lightly to make sure its a tight fix, then leave to dry for about 2-3 hrs, making sure the glue is fully dried. The packet will say 2-3 mins for a tight bond. This is true but I would recommend leaving it for much longer to make sure it's fully dried and has no chance of catching and falling out.

If you're not lucky enough to have the stones you can use modern diamantes but they don't tend to be foiled at the back and will give a different look when set into the piece.

This being the case, I do two things, any pieces I may find that are beyond love I harvest for the stones which are easily removed with a craft knife and some patience or I pop over to Ebay and search for vintage stones. I did find a shop that was full of vintage stones at wonderful prices and that way you can get the stones to match the era of the piece, returning it to its full former glory.

Now armed with your shiny, not so new stones the same method applies as before, drop of glue and your concentration and you are good to go.

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